Weekday morning peak MRT trips to CBD fall by about half

Covid-19 and flexible working regime cited for changes in commuting patterns

- Kok Yufeng

The number of commuters who exited MRT stations in the Central Business District (CBD) during weekday morning peak hours from January to October was about half that of pre-Covid-19 levels, with sustained flexible working arrangements driving a shift in travel patterns.

This is according to ticketing data from the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Its statistics also showed slightly lower peaks in public transport ridership during the morning and evening rush hours, as overall ridership for buses and trains in October 2022 remained lower than in October 2019.

In the first 10 months of 2022, an average of 1.22 million trips were made each weekday on buses and trains during morning peak periods - 77.8 per cent of the 1.57 million trips made each weekday morning over the same period three years ago.

Whole-day ridership across the week, including weekends, made a slightly better recovery, with an average of 6.31 million daily trips taken on public transport from January to October - about 81.5 per cent of daily ridership before the pandemic struck.

This was despite a major easing of Covid-19 curbs in April, which removed limits on social gatherings and the number of workers allowed back at workplaces.

The data given to The Straits Times by LTA echoed comments made by Mr Chua Chong Kheng, the authority's deputy chief executive for infrastructure and development, during a panel discussion in early November at the Singapore International Transport Congress and Exhibition (SITCE).

Mr Chong said then that travel on public transport between regions outside the CBD, versus travel into the CBD, had risen compared with before the pandemic.

During the same SITCE panel discussion, executives from public transport operators in other countries also highlighted changes in commuting patterns in their cities because of Covid-19 and the move towards flexible work.